Energy conversion

862 Pages·2008·11.169 MB·English

by  D Yogi Goswami, Frank Kreith

q2007byTaylor&FrancisGroup,LLC
q2007byTaylor&FrancisGroup,LLC
q2007byTaylor&FrancisGroup,LLC

q2007byTaylor&FrancisGroup,LLC
q2007byTaylor&FrancisGroup,LLC
Preface
Energy is universally acknowledged to be the mainstay of an industrial society. Without an adequate
supply of energy, the stability of the social and economic order, as well as the political structure of a
society, is in jeopardy. As the world supply of fossil energy sources decreases, the need for energy
conservation, efficient energyconversion, and developing renewable energy technologies becomesever
morecritical.Thisbookdealswithenergyconversionfromtraditionalfossilfuelsandnuclearaswellas
renewableenergyresources.
Recently, theissue ofenergyefficiency has emergedasa serious engineering challengebecause it is
nowgenerallyacceptedthathumanactivities,mainlyburningoffossilfuels,arethemaincontributorsto
globalclimatechange.Globalwarmingislargelytheresultoftheemissionofradiation-trappinggases,
suchascarbondioxideandmethane,intotheatmosphere.Itistheconsensusofthescientificcommunity
that human activities are largely responsible for the increase in the average global temperature. Thus,
improvingtheefficiencyofenergyconversionfromfossilfuelsandthedevelopmentofrenewableenergy
technologiesisbecomingevermoreimportantfortheengineeringcommunity.
Thisbookisdividedintotwoparts:energyresourcesandenergyconversion.Thefirstsevenchapters
dealwithavailableenergyresourcesincludingfossilfuels,nuclear,andrenewable.Chapters8–11cover
conventionalenergyconversiontechnologiesofsteampowerplants,gasturbines,internal combustion
engines, and hydraulic turbines. Advanced conversion technologies such as advanced coal power
plants, combined cycle power plants, Stirling engines, and advanced nuclear power are covered in
Chapters12–17.Chapter15coversvariousstoragetechnologies.
Renewable energy technologies including solar thermal power, photovoltaics, wind energy conver-
sion, biomass and biofuels, geothermal energy conversion, as well as waste-to-energy combustion are
covered in Chapters 18–24. Chapter 26 presents fundamentals as well as technology assessment of
fuelcells.Unconventionalenergyconversionsystemsstillunderdevelopment,includingnuclearfusion,
oceanenergy,anddirectenergyconversionbythermionic,thermoelectric,andmagneto-hydrodynamic
methods,arecoveredinChapters17,25,and27.
Thematerialpresentedinthishandbookhasbeenextractedfromthetwoprevioushandbooksedited
byus.ThefirstistheHandbookofMechanicalEngineeringandtheothertheHandbookofEnergyEfficiency
and Renewable Energy published in 2007. It is hoped that bringing all the information for energy
resources and conversion under one roof will be useful to engineers in designing and building energy
generation systems from traditional and renewable resources. The editors would like to express their
appreciationtotheauthorsfortheirforbearanceanddiligenceinpreparingtheirworkforpublication.
In a work of this type, scope errors and omissions are unavoidable. The editors would therefore
appreciatefeedbackfromthereaderstorectifyanyerrorsandimprovethecoverageoffutureeditions.
D. Yogi Goswami
Frank Kreith
q2007byTaylor&FrancisGroup,LLC

Editors-in-Chief
D. Yogi Goswami, Clean Energy Research Center, University of South Florida, Tampa,
Florida
Frank Kreith, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder,
Colorado
q2007byTaylor&FrancisGroup,LLC